If you’re anything like us, the Groupon/Saveology/New York Deals bubble may have burst for you. You’re at the point where every deal you see convenes a board meeting in your head to discuss the opportunity cost of potentially saving money on that sailing course you’ve always (read: never) thought about taking vs. the agitation of remembering to redeem the coupon before it vanishes into the realm of dreams and forsaken discounted massages. Google Offers, however, has instituted a new policy that might give it the edge over all of the other deal sites, by simply giving you less to worry about by just giving you your money back on unspent deals.
If you’ve purchased a Google Offer that has been languishing in your account, you likely received an email that Google will now be refunding all unused offers once they have expired, meaning that there really is no risk in buying and then rethinking that discounted oral surgery class. Purchasers actually have two options, the first of which is doing nothing (which is how we got here in the first place, isn’t it?), and receiving the refund for what they originally spent. The second offer, however, is to receive Google Play dollars (the original refunded value, which never expires, plus a promotional credit that expires in two years) which can be used on music, movies, books, and apps from the Google Play store, which is like their iTunes store. Either way, it sounds like Google has once again figured out an angle to take over the market, although no promises of refund will get me to open up an email offering a great discount on a manicure or Melissa’s Cupcakes.